Non-traumatic, non-occlusive extremity support system

Abstract

An extremity support system comprising a board having an upper surface that supports a resilient member. The board has a curved portion that facilitates it to pivot when connected to a table or bed. It also has a plurality of openings for holding a plurality of straps that can be positioned over the resilient member. The resilient member also includes a rounded end for facilitating the board to pivot; and a top furrow that supports and provides access to an extremity extending off the surface of the table or bed of a patient laying in a plurality of positions. In addition, the straps have methods of placement to function as non-occlusive non-obstructive guardrails that maintain the extremity in the furrow of the resilient member, do not interfere with the ability of the board to pivot, and do not touch the extremity under usual circumstances thereby preventing injuries to an arm or a leg.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A support for a patient's extremity that extends off the surface of a table or bed, comprising:
 a board having an upper surface, an undersurface surface, a curved portion, a platform portion, an outer end, a pair of sides, and a plurality of strap openings adjacent to said respective sides, each said opening having a predetermined shape; 
 a resilient member comprising a compressible elongated block having a top surface, a bottom surface, a rounded end, a distal end, and a longitudinal top furrow which extends from said rounded end to said distal end, said resilient member and said furrow having a predetermined shape and size for supporting a patient's extremity within a predetermined range of sizes; 
 wherein said rounded end of said resilient member overlies and is coincident with said curved portion of said board and said distal end of said resilient member overlies and is coincident with said outer end of said board; 
 wherein said resilient member is narrower than said board so as to have a plurality of ledge portions on said respective sides of said board that extend out from said board, said plurality of openings being formed in said ledge portions; 
 and a strap that extends through said openings of said board and spans over said furrow of said resilient member; 
 whereby said extremity support provides comfortable, safe, ergonomic support, and buttresses pressure points of said extremity, and yet allows access to said extremity, enables moveable non-traumatic adjustments of said extremity in said furrow, and prevents accidental removal of said extremity from said resilient member. 
 
     
     
       2. The extremity support of  claim 1  wherein said board comprises rigid hard material having radiolucent and/or radiopaque features. 
     
     
       3. The extremity support of  claim 1 , further including an attachment device for attaching said board to a side or end of said table or bed. 
     
     
       4. The extremity support of  claim 3  wherein said attachment device is arranged to pivot said board about said table or bed and enable said extremity support to be moved to and locked into a plurality of positions. 
     
     
       5. The extremity support of  claim 1  wherein said upper surface of said board and said bottom surface of said resilient member have respective mating hook-and-loop fasteners attached thereto for removably attaching said board and said resilient member together. 
     
     
       6. The extremity support of  claim 1  wherein said strap is free from said bottom surface of said board between said openings so that said strap does not interfere with the function of said attachment device. 
     
     
       7. The extremity support of  claim 1  wherein said furrow of said resilient member is of sufficient cross-sectional area to enable movable adjustments of and provide access to said extremity for placement, removal, troubleshooting, and maintenance of a plurality of medical devices placed in or on said extremity. 
     
     
       8. The extremity support of  claim 1  wherein said furrow of said resilient member has sufficient cross-sectional area and depth so that said strap can span over said furrow without contacting said extremity. 
     
     
       9. The extremity support of  claim 1  wherein said strap is arranged to span over said furrow in a plurality of layers so that said strap can function as a guardrail that prevents removal of said extremity from said furrow. 
     
     
       10. The extremity support of  claim 1  wherein said strap is of sufficient length to extend from one end above said furrow, down past one side of said resilient member and one outer side of said board, under said outer side of said board, up through one of said strap openings, up past said one side of said resilient member to said top of said resilient member, across top opening of said furrow, down one opposite side of said resilient member and through an opposite strap opening, under one opposite side of said board, up past said opposite side of said resilient member to said top of said resilient member, and above said furrow to overlap and removably attach to an opposite end of said strap, so that said strap can function as a guardrail that prevents removal of said extremity from said furrow. 
     
     
       11. The extremity support of  claim 1  wherein said strap has end portions having mating hook-and-loop attachment areas for holding said ends together. 
     
     
       12. The extremity support of  claim 1  wherein a second strap having hook-and-loop fasteners and a second plurality of openings are provided, said second strap being spaced from said first-named strap and extending through said second plurality of openings, said second strap and said second plurality of openings being spaced from said first-named strap and said first-named plurality of openings, said second strap spanning over said furrow of said resilient member, said resilient member, said board, and said straps being selected from the class consisting of disposable and reusable materials. 
     
     
       13. A method of supporting a patient's extremity, where the patient is on a table or a bed and said extremity extends out from the surface of said table or bed, comprising:
 providing a board having an upper surface, an undersurface, a curved portion, a platform portion, an outer end, a pair of sides, and a pair of strap openings adjacent to said respective sides, each said opening having a predetermined shape; 
 providing a resilient member comprising a compressible elongated block having a top surface, a bottom surface, a rounded end, a distal end, and a longitudinal top furrow which extends from said rounded end to said distal end, said resilient member and said furrow having a predetermined shape and size for supporting said patient's extremity within a predetermined range of sizes; and 
 providing a strap that can extend through said openings of said board and span over said furrow of said resilient member; 
 placing said patient on said bed or table and putting said extremity of said patient into said furrow and attaching said strap so that it extends through said openings of said board and spans over said furrow above and not communicating with said extremity, 
 whereby said extremity support provides comfortable, safe, ergonomic support, and buttresses pressure points of said extremity, and yet allows access to said extremity, enables moveable non-23 traumatic adjustments of said extremity in said furrow, and prevents accidental removal of said extremity from said resilient member; 
 wherein said strap extends from one end above said furrow, down past one side of said resilient member and one outer side of said board, under said outer side of said board, up through one of said strap openings, up past said one side of said resilient member to said top of said resilient member, across top opening of said furrow, down one opposite side of said resilient member and through a strap opening on an opposite side of said board, under said opposite side of said board, up past said opposite side of said board and said resilient member to said top of said resilient member, and above said furrow to an opposite end of said strap and is removably attached to said opposite end of said strap, so that said strap can function as a guardrail that prevents removal of said extremity from said furrow. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , further including providing an attachment device for attaching said board to a side or end of said table or bed. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14  wherein said attachment device is arranged to pivot said board about said table or bed and enables said extremity support to be moved to and locked into a plurality of positions. 
     
     
       16. The method  claim 13  wherein said strap is arranged to span over said furrow in a plurality of layers so that said strap can function as a guardrail that prevents removal of said extremity from said furrow. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 13 , further including a second strap having hook-and-loop fasteners and a second plurality of openings, said second strap being spaced from said first-named strap and extending through said second plurality of openings, said second strap and said second plurality of openings being spaced from said first-named strap and said first-named plurality of openings, said second strap spanning over said furrow of said resilient member, said resilient member, said board, so that said straps each extend through said openings at opposite sides of said board and loop around said sides of said board outside of said openings and form two layers on said sides and above said resilient member.